are contingencies like this planned for? dont they have another soyuz connected to use for emergencies?
so they can return in case the iss gets hit by a meteor?
cant they retrofit a progress cargo ship for people to travel to the station in an emergency?
There is a capsule connected to the ISS. It can be used by the crew to return to earth. However, if they leave, the ISS will be uninhabited. Due to the nature of the beast, it needs lots of care and maintenance, so being left uninhabited is not ideal.
The current capsule must return around the end of December/early January at the latest. They are only allowed to stay in orbit around 200-210 days.
IIRC, Progress isn't human-rated. You don't want to take a chance like that with the lives of the astronauts.
2 biggest possibilities now are:
1. Send a Soyuz up unmanned to replace MS09 (the one currently docked to the ISS). Fairly low risk as there will be no astronauts/cosmonauts onboard.
2. Speed up the investigation to find out what went wrong, and ensure the next launch is safe.